Rapid growth in the amount of information available on the Internet has contributed to a growing demand for a technique of processing data. For example, a computer user could be interested in gathering information from the Web that corresponds to specific criteria set by a potential buyer, such as information describing automobiles for sale or airline flights provided at discount, making a list of the information gathered and selecting specific items from the list that match the buyer's criteria.
Traditional techniques exist for gathering information from the Internet and from other static sources. However, these traditional techniques lack judgment and processing ability. All the matching information is extracted, and no judgments are made by the system as to the usefulness of the information or its applicability to the present circumstances.
Thus, there is a need in the art for an improved technique for evaluating the applicability of information to the various criteria developed by different users.